In 2010\, the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts received 126 painti
ngs and 33 sculptures as permanent loans from the Peter and Irene Ludwig Fo
undation. The works are excellently suited to complement the museum's own i
nventory of art in the GDR. The works have been publicly exhibited since 20
10\, primarily in dialogic presentations: Hartwig Ebersbach and Volker Stel
zmann\, Hubertus Giebe and Wolfgang Peuker\, also Wolfram Ebersbach and Sig
hard Gille. In 'Ludwig in Leipzig IV'\, we distilled an entire decade and
exhibited strikingly individual artistic thumbprints from the nineteen-eigh
ties. The current presentation now shows works by Bernhard Heisig from the
Ludwig Foundation and also the museum's own inventory.Heisig's partne
r in dialogue is Wolfgang Petrick\, whose critical realism\, interwoven wit
h surreal and dadaesque traits\, was traded at the start of the nineteen-se
venties under the label 'D-Realism'. His visual dissection transforms the
affluent bourgeoisie into degenerate monsters\, their assertion of debonair
self-presentation a debacle faced with the manifold deformations inscribed
in the flip-side of prosperous society with all its superficial revelry. T
wo artists meet in 'Ludwig in Leipzig V'\, perceiving the world through the
magnifying glass of its disastrous entanglements and unafraid to engage i
n indecorous haranguing and clamorous tones. For many years\, Wolfgan
g Petrick was among the core of artists presented in the gallery owned by D
ieter Brusberg\, which acted as a platform for GDR art. Petrick had individ
ual exhibitions there\, as did Bernhard Heisig. And the collectors Peter Lu
dwig and his wife Irene were regular visitors at Dieter Brusberg's gallery.
In 1987\, Brusberg staged a topical exhibition under the title 'Fritz and
Frederick – Prussian Pictures'. Bernhard Heisig and Wolfgang Petrick occupi
ed central positions in this exhibition. So it is fair to say that the dial
ogue between their paintings already took place 25 years ago. In 2013\, the
Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts plays host to an encounter between paintings b
y Bernhard Heisig from the Peter and Irene Ludwig collection and by Wolfgan
g Petrick from the Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch collection.